Maria and I were in the woodshed yesterday gathering wood for the stoves. Maria was startled to see a familiar face – Zip – pop up from the top of the shed, up close to the roof. “Oh, Zip,” she said, “hi.” He demanded some attention and then left abruptly to follow something that moved or made a noise.

Zip is just about everywhere on the farm, he has figured out every opening in the barn, the shed, the gardens. He pops up like a genie wherever he wants.

After he got some attention up at the top, he made his way down to me and wanted some attention there. He got attention from both of us and then disappeared. He’s like a magician, he just pops up everywhere and disappears.